Egg Shells , Calcium and Blossom End Rot

[jackarmy]

I read somewhere recently about crushing up eggshells and mixing a decent ammount of it in with the compost when you put your toms/peppers into their final positions for a slow release of Calcium

I used to feed eggshells ( oven baked ) to my birds when i had an aviery so see no reason why this shouldnt be a good idea for the toms.

Question is, would they need to be baked/boiled as i did for the birds or would they be ok raw so to speak ?. and would the slow release be to slow ?

[Potstubsdustbins]

I have never done this myself but as I understand it you should make sure the egg shells are dry (oven works best) crush them (maybe a blender) and apply pre-planting. They reckon on about 12 shells per plant.

[ESBkevin]

If you use a blender be sure to wash it out straight away afterwards, if the calcium is allowed to stick to the insides for a time it gets very hard to remove. Don't ask me how I know.
Crushed egg shells always go in the compost at this house. Some people like to use a little epsom salts when planting Tomatoes too ;-)

[jackarmy]

Cheers both
Ill certainly give it a try now, cant do any harm ey.

[4390evans]

Egg shell in tomato pots, how much?

Someone on here said she put egg shell in her tom pots when potting up and got good results.

How much do you put in?

[veggiechicken]

Is this the thread you mean? http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...rot_88529.html
If so, I'll merge them!

[4390evans]

Oh i didnt know it was a thread, i seen she said something on another thread. But yeah merdge them

[jackarmy]

She ?, " how very dare you"

[veggiechicken]

Don't worry Jack - it's PoOtty who's wearing a dress in his avatar

[Snadger]

Don't understand the blossom end rot part of it? I always put that down to erratic watering?
I think the plant can't take up the calcium it requires because of this. Water plants when they need it and extra calcium shouldn't be necessary!

[brownfingers]

I've done this for years now to good effect. However, last year was an exception. I grew Ferline and over 50% of the fruit got BER. The watering was not erratic btw.

[snakeshack]

not quite sure how the calcium & blossom end rot thing works anyway, I don't water erratically (EVER) and still get BER on tomatoes, I live in London and our water is so hard it's carrying a flick knife and knuckle dusters due to the amount of calcium in the water. There must be other factors in play as it does not seem to be particular cultivars or compost combinations. Although I have noticed it is reduced in larger containers. I tend to grow 2 plants in a recycling box about 120l volume.

[Snadger]

I grow all my toms in greenhouse beds now. I have found that these hold a reserve of water better than pots or grow bags.As my greenhouse is on an allotment plot 7 miles away from my home, I can miss an odd days watering in mid summer and plants won't wilt at all.

I also think that some varieties of tomato are more susceptible to BER than others.

I would imagine during hot weather you would need to water twice or thrice a day if growing in pots or grow bags, which for me is not possible.